Kill it with fire: Man burns down house while battling wolf spider with a blow torch

A California man has sent his apartment up in flames following an attempt to kill a spider with a miniature blowtorch.

Witnesses are reporting the man was trying to get rid of a "huge" wolf spider on 7 January that had invaded his living space. Wolf spiders are not poisonous but can deal a great amount of pain when they bite. The apartment is in Redding, a city in California's north.

Although the man was successful in setting the spider alight, he faced a bigger problem when it scurried into a nearby mattress. The fire was then spread to the curtains and a flag collection.

Speaking to the Redding Spotlight, firefighter chief Rob Pitt said the blaze was contained with only moderate damage.

"They are going to have to find another place to live," Pitt said. "The unit they were living in is uninhabitable."

The man attempted to extinguish the flames with a garden hose before conceding it was out of control. It ended up causing around $11,000 USD (£8,100) worth of damage. No one was hurt in the incident.

It took firefighting crews 20 minutes to extinguish blaze. The man, along with three other tenants, have been told to find another home for the time being.

One of the tenants, Lyndsey Wisegarver, said they were already on the hunt for another place to live. "We'll make it work," Wisegarver told the Redding Spotlight. She said the incident had sped up the moving process.